Topic: Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs

Scientific Ratings in this topic:

1 - Well-Supported by Research Evidence

2 - Supported by Research Evidence

3 - Promising Research Evidence

4 - Evidence Fails to Demonstrate Effect

5 - Concerning Practice

NR - Not able to be Rated

Learn more about the scale

Definition for Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs:

Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Programs are defined by the CEBC as programs, interventions, and practices that assist with the recruitment, selection, development, and support of a diverse, skilled, and effective child welfare workforce to improve staff practice and retention. Programs may address the recruitment, selection, and hiring of new child welfare staff and/or the education, training, supervision, support, retention and leadership development of new and ongoing child welfare staff. Programs may also address methods for assessing and improving the workplace environment to make it more supportive of effective child welfare practice. In addition, programs may involve components and elements designed to: 1) mitigate and reduce work-related stress and trauma, 2) improve worker satisfaction, and 3) increase staff retention.

  • Target population: Child welfare staff and practitioners (e.g., support staff, caseworkers, social workers, supervisors, managers, administrators, directors, etc.)
  • Services/types that fit: Professional development, education, training, coaching and mentoring, supervision, individual and group interventions, incentive and reward programs, as well as programs to address organizational factors, agency climate, leadership development, supervision practices, career ladders, and caseload/workload reduction
  • Delivered by: Child welfare professionals, trainers, educators, supervisors, clinicians, trained paraprofessionals
  • In order to be included: Program must specifically target the recruitment, selection, development, support, retention, and/or leadership of Child Welfare staff as a goal.
  • In order to be rated: There must be research evidence (as specified by the Scientific Rating Scale) that examines outcomes, such as improvement in child welfare workforce, performance, satisfaction, or retention or the knowledge or skills of the child welfare workforce.

Programs in this Topic Area

The programs listed below have been reviewed by the CEBC and, if appropriate, been rated using the Scientific Rating Scale.

Three Programs with a Scientific Rating of 3 - Promising Research Evidence:

17 Programs with a Scientific Rating of NR - Not able to be Rated:


Topic Expert

Robin Leake, PhD, Research Associate Professor
Graduate School of Social Work, Univeristy of Denver
Denver, CO